Old Dream
by sugahkane
Summary: Dreams are sore reminders of what we don't have...and sometimes of what we do have. Rated T just for safety's sake.


**A/N: ...Well, not too sure how this came about. Sorry if it doesn't make too much sense. At one point, I literally just started writing randomly and refining it as best as I could. And now I feel really guilty since there's another story I should be working on...but oh well. I'll get to it. Let me say, please excuse any grammar or spelling mistakes. Or content mistakes, for that matter. Just trying to get it out there. If you don't quite get it, let me know and I'll clarify. Although I guess that would defeat the whole point of writing it...anyway.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or anything else to do with it.**

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Rei unlocked the door to her apartment and tossed her keys on the sofa as she shut the door behind her. She smirked to herself as she made her way to her kitchen. It was good to come home to a place that was entirely hers, where no one could bother her about archery lessons the next morning or sweeping up the courtyard after a hard day of work.

The CEO of Tokyo's newest rising media company pulled a small bottle of green tea out of the refrigerator and drank contentedly. It had been a long day of meetings and negotiations that she had ultimately triumphed in, but left her mentally drained. With a small decisive nod to herself, Rei settled on taking a hot shower before making any attempt at dinner.

Strolling easily down the hall and past her room to the bathroom, Rei completely failed to recognize that there was a slightly shivering, huddled form on her bed. It only took a second for her mind to catch up with her eyes as she quickly backpedaled and stared with her mouth open.

"Usagi?"

A sniffle and a watery, dark blue gaze was her answer.

"How did you−"

"Do you love me, Rei?"

"How−what?" First, Usagi was in her apartment, her _space_!, without her even sensing it. And Usagi was asking if she loved her? "I do." Rei paused as her ever practical mind turned its gears. "But Usagi, how did you get−"

"Say it. Say that you love me," Usagi whispered in a…sultry tone?

Taken aback by the command and the tone, Rei hesitated for a moment before responding, "Ok…I love you." When the usually bubbly blond started to spill tears down her cheeks, Rei's growing puzzlement and confusion took a backseat to her concern as she rushed to her princess's side on the bed. With a gentle arm around the blond's quivering form, Rei asked, "Usa, what's wrong? What's got you so worked up?"

Usagi only sobbed louder for a few more minutes before finally answering, "Ma−Mamoru and I…we…we're not m−meant for each other…"

"Ah, don't say that," Rei told her with a sigh. "You guys have been together for years now, there's no way−"

"I love someone else…I'm in love with someone else."

Rei's knee-jerk "friendly" advice died in her throat and was choked out by a rising lump. She stared at the carpeted floor and struggled to say words she knew were right, even as pieces of what was possibly happening were starting to click in her head. Words that fit the script of their "destinies". "You and Mamoru are meant to rule this world…together. You can't, Usagi, you can't love someone else−"

"I can," Usagi whispered, and that was enough to silence anything else Rei might have said. "I can," the moon soldier repeated in a stronger voice while meeting Rei's wide open violet eyes, "and I won't run from it anymore. Rei, I love you…I'm in love with you."

Rei's mind went blank and numb before her thoughts started to run again. _She __**loves**__me. She loves __**me**__! She loves me? _Even with that confession, the one that felt like she had been waiting all her life for, some small, nagging, incoherent thought was unsettling her. Rei pulled her arm back, as if it suddenly didn't belong there around her long unrequited love, and sat back to look at Usagi fully. "How can you…? You love _me_ now?"

Usagi's brow furrowed. "Of course I do, I just told you." Then her gaze softened and she continued with a smile. "And I know you feel the same. I've seen the way you watch me when you think no one is paying attention, the way you always go out of your way to help me when you don't have to…I remember how you always walked me home after every battle, even when you were hurt really bad. And the way you told me you loved me just now…I was so blind to not see it sooner. Oh Rei, how could I _not_ love you?" Usagi had slowly pulled herself closer while she was speaking until their faces were only a breath apart. "Isn't this what you want, Rei?" A cool hand cupped Rei's burning cheek. "Don't you want _me_?"

"I−I…"

Too many things were happening too fast for Rei to fully process all at once, but the blond's last question rang in her ears. _**Don't**__I want her? I've always wanted her, needed her more than air…but something's…something's not right…_

"Rei."

The former priestess (_…__wait, former?_) was pulled from her thoughts back to the intense dark blue gaze of her princess. "Usagi?" she murmured. Rei was suddenly aware that their faces were still only a hair apart.

"Please don't make us wait anymore." The normally clumsy woman smoothly guided Rei's lips to her own and captured them with all the earnest sweetness and gentle passion Rei had imagined she might have when kissing. After a few breathless moments, Usagi pulled back and rested her forehead against Rei's. "Just say yes."

Eyes tightly shut and almost in disbelief, Rei tried to figure out why the nagging feeling she felt earlier got stronger. It should have gone away…she _wanted _this, always had…right? She slowly opened her eyes and her mouth to give an answer, when she froze. Instead of Usagi's dark blue gaze, a pair of slightly lighter blue eyes stared back and immediately cleared her cloudy mind. "I can't."

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Rei shot up in the bed, heart pounding and breathing deeply. She leaned forward to rest her elbows on her thighs and propped her head up in her hands. She glanced down at the form beside her that was stirring because of her abrupt movement, golden hair spilling over the pillow. The movement stopped, and Rei slowly slid out of the bed.

"What's wrong, Rei," a drowsy voice yawned, "did you see something about the future?"

Rei rubbed the back of her neck before hesitantly bending down to plant a tender kiss on the woman's cheek, earning a pleased sigh. She stepped back and said, "No, it's nothing. Just an old dream. Go back to sleep, Mina."

"Mmm…ok…"

Rei stood there for a few moments and waited for Minako's breathing to even out, as she had a habit of sometimes staying up with Rei when she woke up in the middle of the night. Things were just starting to get back to normal after an argument they'd had a week ago, and Rei didn't want to chance upsetting the peace over a reminder of a long-forgotten feeling.

Rei silently walked to the living room and sat on the loveseat. Minako's living room was set up so that the furniture faced the balcony, which had a great view of Tokyo's night lights. Sometimes, it was like looking at thousands of miniature, multi-colored fires. The view was entrancing and calming, almost like the fire back at the shrine.

She sighed as her thoughts drifted back to the dream. She was very familiar with it and just about had the script memorized, having had it almost regularly when she once reached a point where she would've given anything to change her life to the way she wanted it. It was a pretty low time, one she barely made it out of with her mind and emotions intact. All she had wanted was to get away from the shrine, from the never-ending wave of duties. And she had wanted Usagi to love her the same way she did, so badly that it _ached_ every time she saw her and Mamoru together.

Eventually though, things just seemed to…change. Thinking about it now, Rei couldn't figure out exactly if it was the passage of time, the stark reality of it all, or the way that a certain blonde-haired idol found a way inside her closed-off heart…maybe it was a combination of all three.

Rei chuckled wryly to herself. It was ironic how a dream that used to plague her with its possibility, now only served to remind her of just how much she gained. She was still a priestess living at the shrine with her grandfather, but she was grateful and appreciated it more. Living there and being who she was had its hectic days, but overall it brought her an inner peace that she knew now she couldn't find anywhere else and wouldn't trade for the world.

And Mina. The feelings Rei discovered growing inside her heart for the blonde beauty had shocked her, but they weren't totally unwelcome. And the more she and Minako spent time, got to know each other beyond study sessions and life-or-death battles, the more Rei found just how right they were for each other. How much Minako _completed _her. If she wasn't certain before, she was sure now. No matter how hard things seemed, she couldn't deny the truth, even in her dreams.

"Rei?"

Rei looked up to see a disheveled and sleepy-eyed Minako standing in the hallway wrapped in the comforter from her bed. Rei smiled softly at the sight. At least she had gotten enough time to work her thoughts out.

"Are you ok? Are you coming back to bed?"

"I'm fine, Minako," Rei said. "Just thinking about some things." She yawned and lazily stretched her arms over her head. Her eyes were starting to feel heavy.

Minako shuffled over to the loveseat and dropped down next to Rei. "Good things, I hope." She was quiet for a moment as she stared out at the city before speaking again. "I'm really sorry about last week. I shouldn't have said those things to you."

Rei turned slightly to pull Minako into her arms while Minako adjusted the comforter around the both of them. She dropped a kiss onto the blonde's forehead. "I'm sorry too. I let my temper get the best of me." As an afterthought, she added, "And yes, I was thinking about good things." Rei felt Minako sigh against her chest and she held her closer in response.

"Good," Minako murmured before a yawn escaped.

"Mina," said Rei while yawning herself, "go back to sleep."

"Only if you will too…" the blonde mumbled drowsily.

"Mmm…," was all Rei could get out. It seemed all it took to get her relaxed enough to go back to sleep was Minako's warmth resting against her. Her last thought before completely drifting off was how glad she was that some dreams never got a chance to be fulfilled.

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**Hope it did you some good! Let me know by reviewing!**


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